5 Common Misconceptions About Offshore Recruiting Partnerships
June 19, 2018

Effective cost management of the recruitment funnel requires a complete and accurate understanding of the recruiting solutions available. Unfortunately, enough misconceptions swirl around offshore recruiting services that many organizations have a difficult time discerning the real value that offshore recruiting services (offshore RPOs) provide. For organizations looking to make the most informed decision about offshoring, here are some of the common misperceptions to avoid and a close look at the true potential that can be unlocked through an offshore recruiting team.

Misconception #1: When I Offshore I Am Losing Control

Many people feel that once they begin to offshore parts of the recruitment process that they are losing control. Unlike a more traditional RPO or staffing company, where you typically do give up ownership over much of the process, offshore partnerships with companies like PSG enable you to actually gain control.

You define the final process guiding your offshore resources, and those resources act as an extension of your team, typically working directly with your onshore recruiting resources. The nature of offshore delivery drives adherence to process and associated success metrics. Often this level of discipline ensures that your offshore partner follows your recruiting processes more closely than many of the dispersed branches in your internal recruiting network.

Misconception #2: My Offshore Recruiting Partner's Locations Are Low Cost Destinations with Bad Infrastructure

When you think about an offshore recruitment agency, what do their offices look like? How reliable is the infrastructure? If we default to the way offshoring operations are often depicted, the facility would be row after row of identical cubicles with outdated and unreliable phone systems, lit by all-too-bright fluorescent lights. In this scenario, there is a woeful lack of sophisticated systems and strong leadership, not to mention morale. Overall, this nightmare version of an offshore contact center would not be worth the investment.

However, forward-thinking companies with a long term vision have managed to put that fantasy to death. They know that employee morale, energy, and retention ultimately lead to great results for clients. At PSG, we have built a workspace for our recruiters that positively impacts morale and performance. In fact, much of our office was voted on and designed by our frontline recruiters! Our production floor is warm and inviting with decorative lighting, wood paneling, and plenty of potted plants. We provide coaching rooms where performance reviews are face-to-face, common spaces for teams to relax or eat lunch together, and a training center where our team learns hands-on.

Our offices are located in Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) zones specifically designed to provide services to U.S. clients. Businesses that are eligible and authorized to operate their businesses within the PEZA zone are granted tax incentives that decrease the cost of operations. This allows PSG to reinvest those SG&A cost savings into our infrastructure, HR, training, and employee engagement.

Additionally, we provide our team with access to a variety of technologies that are pushing beyond the boundaries set by the industry's top applicant tracking systems (ATS) and reporting dashboards to drive team performance and ROI for our clients. Plus, our HR team has created a culture where our recruiters are given the guidance and coaching needed to enable continuous improvement that directly impacts the bottom line for our clients.

Misconception #3: Offshore Representatives Have Weak Communication Skills

Offshore recruiting agencies are often portrayed with language barriers. For example, offshore recruiters in India or other low cost destinations lack proficiency in conversational English, struggling to communicate with native speakers in a way that feels natural. In this scenario, onshore recruiters are the logical choice because of their strong communication skills and ability to make quality candidates feel at ease.

What gets overlooked by this misconception are the offshore destinations where English is widely spoken. For example, the Philippines is a destination recognized for its English proficiency. As a former U.S. territory, people in the Philippines have a much closer connection to the American dialect (compared to the U.K. dialect) and have a closer affinity to U.S. culture. These factors make conversations between Philippines offshore recruiting teams and potential candidates feel more natural, opening the door for authentic rapport between candidate and recruiter. With over 1.2 million call center agents in Manila and across the Philippines, PSG can be highly selective to hire resources with the strongest communication skills and teach them to be recruiters. In fact, we are so selective, that less than 5% of applicants to PSG receive a job offer.

Misconception #4: Their Employees Are Not Dedicated to a Single Business

One common excuse for avoiding partnerships with offshore recruiting agencies revolves around their team structure. The belief is that all their recruiting teams are not dedicated to a single client, knowingly submitting candidates across a competing client base instead. This leads to a lower submittal-to-hire ratio and slows down the hiring process for organizations. If that were always the case, it would make complete sense to choose onshore recruiters against offshore recruiters.

Fortunately, not every RPO undercuts their results and deliverability with shared recruiting resources. Our offshore recruiters are exclusively dedicated to a single client and are trained in that client's culture and best practices. This enables them to act as an extension of that organization's team, increasing their submittal-to hire-ratio and the speed of their offshore candidate sourcing and screening activities.

Misconception #5: The Metrics Of Offshore Teams Are Unclear

How do the metrics of an offshore program compare to onshore recruiters or even other offshore competitors? If you believe one common misconception, it's hard to determine. In this assertion, offshore companies are measuring results based on their own internal metrics, but fail to accurately account for what their clients find to be relevant and significant. This makes it difficult to evaluate the relationship and whether or not working with offshore recruiting agencies is a smart investment.

We strive to provide transparent and appropriate metrics for our clients to evaluate. As a proponent of data-driven recruitment, we evaluate past performance and measure our ROI the way our clients would measure their onshore recruiters' achievement. Working with clients to fine-tune those metrics ensures that our services align with their objectives and funnel quality candidates into their organizations with continuously improving efficiency.

Want to learn more about how offshore recruiting agencies are a cost-effective, data-driven solution to your talent needs? Get your copy of our eBook "3 Pillars of an Offshore RPO Partnership That Drive More Profitable Placements" to learn how we can align our services with your workforce goals.

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